Skyrim
by Dittofury
Summary: This is my story of my playthrough in Skyrim, as a novel. I want to use this to practice my writing skills so any feedback or advice is appreciated. We follow Tabatha, a Nordic female, as she escapes death and begins her life in the vast kingdom of Skyrim. The land is torn between two armies, who will she choose to fight for, and how will her actions have an effect on the land?
1. Helgen

Darkness.

Darkness is all I can remember. Before that, nothing.

The clopping sound came first. I still couldn't see, only hear whatever seemed to be walking on the hard ground.

Then the coldness hit. I suddenly couldn't remember if I was cold before, all i really knew was that I was cold now.

My hands were sitting on my lap, my wrists very uncomfortable. I tried to flex but to no avail. My wrists were tied, tight.

My vision cleared, blurry at first but I could clearly make out that it was the middle of the day.

I seem to have slumped forward at some point because I woke with my torso resting on my knees.

My vision cleared further and it was here that I was able to look around my surroundings.

Snow. Well that explained the cold.

I was in a carriage, it's funny that I had no memory of this, or anything at all really. What in blazes had happened to me?

There were others with me, four men. One sitting in the driver's seat, holding the reins of a horse. Which, I now realise was the source of the constant clopping noise.

'Hey you', said a voice, the man in front of me. His face was a quite dirty and I remember thinking that he wore a lot of blue.

My head was still a bit scattered, I barely heard him. 'You're finally awake, you were trying to cross the border right?'

The border? The border to what? I couldn't remember anything, I had no idea what was happening.

I can't say that I wasn't scared, I'm no idiot. Waking up with no memory, you're hands tied, with a man telling you that you've crossed some border. I wasn't about to go screaming back up the roads, but I was scared.

'Walked right into that imperial ambush, same as us and that thief over there', the man continued. It was at this moment I noticed his hands were bound same as mine. Same as all of us, the man sitting next to me even had his mouth covered so he couldn't talk. Maybe he wouldn't shut up so they gagged him.

'Damn you stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy.' The other man began to talk with a tone that seemed he blamed the blue man for the predicament we were all in. He too had a dirty face, but this one was dressed in rags. Like some beggar.

And that was when I realized that I was in rags, no wonder it was so cold.

I was guessing that this Skyrim place was where I was now, I would've admired the beauty of the lush forests and blankets of snow over the landscape, had I not been thrown in a cart, freezing to death.

'Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you I'd have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell.' The man continued, he had an annoying voice and I already disliked him.

He turned towards me, 'You there, you and me, we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants.' He was propositioning me for something. But what could we do? We had been carted off, same as the 'Stormcloaks' this man mentioned.

'We're all brothers and sisters in bonds now.' the stormcloak said.

'Shut up back there.' the driver sounded annoyed. I hope he doesn't gag us, I was beginning to enjoy the friendly chat.

'What's wrong with him, huh?' inquired the rag man, ignoring the drivers warning. He was gesturing toward the gagged stormcloak.

'Watch your tongue! You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King.' the stormcloak grumbled.

A king? This was all starting to sound like some bad joke, I wish I could remember what happened. But why would our captors treat a king in such an unpleasant way?

'Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion... if they've captured you... oh gods, where are they taking us?' the rag man sounded panicked.

Come to think of it, Where were they taking us? our bonds seemed to say prison, but transporting us with a king seemed to say, execution.

My heart skipped a beat, i had to calm myself down once more. They wouldn't execute someone just for crossing a border, i thought, trying to reason with myself, maybe they would have thought I was in leagues with this Ulfric king, but they wouldn't transport me however many miles just to kill me, they could've done that long ago. They must be taking me to prison, either a life sentence, or they were going to torture me for information, I was hoping it wouldn't come to that, however, seeing as they already caught the king.

Whatever happened, we were not in for a fun trip.

'I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits.' the stormcloak seemed to be reading my thoughts, we were going to die, some way or the other.

'No, This can't be happening! This isn't happening!' the ragged man was panicking, and rightly so, the only thing was it was making me uneasy so I did with he would shut up.

'Hey, what village are you from horse-thief?' enquired the stormcloak.

'Why do you care?' hissed the ragged man.

'A Nord's last thoughts should be of home.'

The ragged man hesitated, then whispered 'Rorikstead. I'm from Rorikstead.'

I had no idea where Rorikstead was and frankly didn't care, I was too busy trying to remember where my home was.

'General Tullius sir! The headsman is waiting.' In all the talk that was happening, I hadn't been watching the road. Suddenly a town had appeared out of nowhere.

We were heading through the gate and a man had called from above it.

Wait did he say 'headsman'?

'Good, let's get this over with.'

By Talos, I thought, we are going to die.

'Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh! Divines, please help me!' at least I held myself better than the ragged man, though I can't say I was doing much better.

Our cart made it through the gate. My heart beat much faster, I guess there was no way out now. Here is where my life would end.

'Look at him! General Tullius, the Military.' the stormcloak managed to keep himself together, perhaps relying on anger to calm his nerves. His words sounded like venom when he spoke of 'General Tullius'. I looked to where he was looking, an old man dressed in red talked to some long faced, pointy eared people, both of them on horseback, I decided to hate this man right then, I decided it was he who had decided to kill me without even a second thought.

'And it looks like the Thalmor are with him.' the stormcloak continued, referring to the pointy ears. 'Damn elves, I bet they had something to do with this.' We continued down the road.

I heard then, a very low rumble, like an animal roaring coming from outside the walls. I tried to hear it again but couldn't. In the end, I concluded it must have been the cart grumbling as we turned, I had more important things to worry about.

'This is Helgen.' Helgen! The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember why. Perhaps I was from here, or was heading here. I looked around the houses and walls, but nothing looked familiar.

'I used to be sweet on a girl from here.' the Stormcloak continued to talk, perhaps trying to keep himself calm. 'I used to be sweet on a girl from here. I wonder if Velod…' I stopped listening to the Stormcloaks ramblings, focusing more on where we were heading.

I noticed the townsfolk, besides the army of people in red, or Imperials as the Stormcloak had called them, there actually seemed to be people living here. Even children, one sat watching on the porch, cross legged and curious. I found myself watching him.

'Who are they, daddy? Where are they going?' said the child. Such innocence.

'You need to go inside, little cub.' the father said, very sadly.

'Why? I want to watch the soldiers!'

'Inside the house, now.'

'Yes papa.'

I didn't want to see the child leave, I knew that him being here or not wouldn't determine whether or not I kept my head, but I still didn't want him to leave.

I watched the child go inside the house as the cart began to slow down.

'Why are we stopping?' asked the ragged man.

'Why do you think? End of the line.' the stormcloak said solemnly. I admired his courage.

He seemed to be proud that he was to die here.

I looked around looking for some final escape. I noticed that most of the guards wore bows, I would just be facing a slow death if I decided to run now.

Failing that, i decided to at least face my death with as much bravery as I could muster. After all, I didn't want to give the Imperials the satisfaction.

'Let's go, we shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us.' the stormcloak stood, ready for the afterlife.

'No! Wait! We're not rebels.' the ragged man was looking for a last attempt at mercy from the Imperials.

'Face your death with some courage, thief,' the stormcloak said stiffly.

'You've got to tell them we weren't with you! This is a mistake!'

'Step towards the block when we call your name, one at a time,' said the Imperial woman in front of us.

'Empire loves their damned lists,' spat the stormcloak.

'Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm.' it was the man from the gate, calling forward the king, not even removing his gag to allow him some last words. He help a book with a quill. Reading the words allowed.

Ulfric stepped away. I could feel his courage as he did so. He too would face his gods with some dignity.

'it has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric,' said the stormcloak. I felt the same, I had known him for a brief period but already I felt respect for the man.

'Ralof of Riverwood,' the stormcloak stepped forward, well at least I got his name before he died.

'Lokir of Rorikstead,' she gestured the ragged man, Lokir.

'No! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this.' he blustered, he then began to run back the way we came. Stupid man. He didn't notice the archers.

'Halt!' cried the Imperial woman.

'You're not going to kill me.' Lokir cried.

'Archers!'

Lokir was hit through the knee and fell, he seemed to be dead, perhaps he was playing, perhaps he passed out from the shock. Although, I was sure he was in considerable pain right now.

'Anyone else feel like running?' said the Imperial woman. We all just stared at her trying to show that we weren't afraid.

'Wait. You there.' said the Imperial man. He was gesturing to me. My heart thumped in my chest. 'Step forward.' I stepped forward. 'Who are you?'

For the first time this trip, I actually had an answer. I remembered my name like a light switch going off.

'I am Tabatha. A proud nordic woman, from Skyrim.' I answered.

'You picked a bad time to come home to Skyrim, kinsman. Captain, what should we do, she's not on the list?' a ray of hope surged, I might be free, start a new life, stay away from the borders and live till I die of old age.

'Forget the list. She goes straight to the block.' I was beginning to really dislike the female Imperial.

'By your orders, Captain. I'm sorry.' the Imperial actually apologised, i guess they weren't all bad, but they were still going to kill me. 'At least you'll die here, in your homeland. Follow the Captain prisoner.'

He was referring to the female Imperial that he calls 'Captain'. I followed her to the middle of the crowd gathered around the chopping block, I found Ralof and stood next to him.

In front of me was the old man, talking straight to Ulfric's face, they were almost touching foreheads. Tullius tried to overshadow the king. But the king stood tall and proud.

'Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero, but a hero doesn't use a power like the voice to murder his king and usurp the throne.' Tullius spoke with venom.

I remember being curious as to what 'the voice' was, i guessed that was why he was gagged, but how can he talk someone to death unless he was particularly boring.

Ulfric let loose a muffled grumble. He did truly hate this man.

'You started this war, flung skyrim into chaos. And now the Empire is going to put you down and restore the peace.' stated Tullius.

A loud roaring noise could be heard echoing around the town, not unlike the sound I heard earlier, only louder this time.

'What was that?' someone said nervously. Good, I wasn't the only one that had heard that.

'It's nothing. Carry on.' said General Tullius, walking away to overlook the executions.

'Yes, General Tullius!' said the captain. 'Give them their last rights.' she said to the priestess I just noticed standing next to the man with the giant, bloody axe.

The priestess began to pray for us, 'As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the 8 divines upon you...'

'For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with.' one of the Stormcloak soldiers stepped forward, looking to volunteer to be the first to enter the afterlife.

'As you wish.' said the priestess, sounding disappointed.

'Come on! I haven't got all morning.' he was brought to his knees by the captain who placed his head over the chopping block, providing a clear view of his neck for the axman. 'My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?' he spoke while facing the axman, but posed his question to every Imperial that could hear him.

The ax swung, and a fountain of blood followed staining the cobblestone floor. His body slumped over. It was a rather gruesome sight and I couldn't help but feel jealous of the man who had already gone through the pain of death and was most likely now meeting with his ancestors.

'You Imperial bastards.' one of the stormcloaks shouted.

The townsfolk were different, yelling, 'death to the stormcloaks,' and, 'justice.' I wondered if they actually believed them words or if they said them because there was an Imperial army literally at their doorstep.

'As fearless in death as he was in life.' said Ralof sadly.

'Next, the nord on the rags.' the captain gestured towards me, I knew she meant me, but I didn't move.

Another roar sounded, much closer this time.

'There it is again.' said one of the Imperial guards. 'Did you hear that?'

'I said, next. Prisoner,' shouted the captain, she could have at least said my name.

'To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy.' said a voice behind me, marshalling me forward.

It became real in those moments I was walking toward the block. I said nothing, did nothing as they forced me to the block. I remember seeing the head in the basket, but then i closed my eyes. I didn't want to see my death coming, I wanted it to be a surprise.

The noise again, much louder this time. I still didn't open my eyes, just listened. I heard the headsman intake a sharp breath of air as he swung the ax backwards, over his head. Only a few more seconds of life now, my heart was thumping extremely fast trying to do a lifetime job in only a few seconds.

BOOOOOOOM.


	2. Escape from Helgen

My eyes snapped back open as the ground shook. I was suddenly overcome with a fearsome sight. A giant black lizard with wings.

A dragon!

But surely they were all dead. Strange, I can't remember where I heard that, I just knew it as a fact.

The headsman fell, to my great relief, backwards. He stumbled as the creature landed and shook the very foundations of the town.

'What in oblivion is that?!' one of the guards called. I was momentarily paralyzed. What exactly was happening?

The creature let loose a great roar, I suddenly realized it had been he who had been making them noises all along. The sky seemed to open and hell itself came spilling out. Comets. Fire. Dragons! It all seemed to fall into reality.

'Dragons!' yelled the townsfolk retreating back into their homes as if that would be sufficient protection.

The dragon let loose a cry quite unlike before, it was attacking. I stumbled as I felt the force, straight off the chopping block and onto the cobblestone as my brain rattled inside my head.

'This way,' yelled a voice over the chaos. It was Ralof who had taken this opportunity to dart inside one of the watchtowers. I followed blindly, desperately attempting to escape the chaos.

Ralof seemed to have found a dagger along the way and cut his wrists free.

I slammed the door shut behind me. As I caught my breath I looked around the room. A couple of stormcloaks had escaped and, to my surprise, Ulfric Stormcloak, who also took advantage of the worst.

'Jarl Ulfric,' cried Ralof, cutting through the kings bonds. 'What is that thing? Could the legends be true?'

'Legends don't burn down villages.' replied Ulfric as he removed his gag. He had a very deep voice as he spoke.

My head raced. What were we to do? How were we to leave? There was only one answer that I could think of, we would have to fight our way out, past the guards, and past the dragon.

The dragon, as if in response, let loose a mighty roar once again from outside. I was glad there was solid stone between us.

'We need to move now.' cried Ralof making his way up the stairs. 'Up the tower.' I dashed up the stairs, overtaking Ralof, when another loud crash sounded.

Half the wall had fallen, destroyed by the dragon as his head now loomed in the hole he created. He inhaled. Then sent a large breath of flames over the second floor.

I tried to compose myself as I was still reeling from the shock. The dragon took off as quickly as he had appeared and I looked out onto the scene.

The town was burning, the guards in a panic. Talos knows what happened to the townsfolk.

'See the inn on the other side?' It was Ralof, as composed as ever. He pointed to the ruins of a building below us. To my horror, I realised it was the home of the child we had rode past earlier.

I nodded, taking focus once more.

'Jump through the roof and keep going, we'll follow when we can.' Ralof didn't need to repeat his words, the roof had completely collapsed and had revealed a landing below it barely two metres from where we stood, an easy enough jump. As easy as a jump can be into a burning building.

I fell through the air, my hands were still bound I now realised, I should've got Ralof to remove the rope when he removed Ulfric's. Because of this, I landed awkwardly but managed to stay on my feet. I glanced around the shattered room I saw only one way to go.

I ran and fell through the floor, to the ground floor below. I saw the door in front of me and ran toward it without thinking.

Outside, the scene had gotten worse. More houses burned and a few even lay in crumpled messes on the floor. The guards were still attempting to fire at the beast with bows and arrows.

Then I saw the child. Thank Talos he was still alive. The dragon landed in front of him, he lowered his head and took in his breath once more.

The child barely got out of the way in time before the licks of flame sprayed the town again. Right where he had been standing.

The dragon took off once more, to wreak more havoc on Helgen.

'Still alive prisoner?' said the guard. 'Keep close to me if you'd like it to stay that way.'

I motioned my hands but he had already turned back toward the chaos, didn't they know that I could help?

The guard told one of the men to watch the child and then darted off in search of General Tullius. I followed, I only saw one way out now. I ran through the ruins of Helgen, stepping over a mass amount of dead bodies, including Lokir. If he wasn't dead before, then he was dead now.

'Keep close to the wall.' yelled the guard over his shoulder, I did as he asked, although I wasn't sure why he was now keep me alive.

The moment my shoulder came in contact with the hard stone of the city walls, the ground shook once more. I steadied my head and looked up, only a few feet from my face, the dragon perched.

Fortunately, he wasn't looking in my direction, distracted perhaps by the mass of guards still firing arrows at him. He let loose another long breath of flames as the guard and I crouched beneath his giant wings. Then, as quick as that, he flew off again.

'Quickly,' yelled the guard, as he ran through what remained of another house and I followed.

All the flames around me, I couldn't help but sweat. A few times already I had come close to burning to death, many of the roofs of houses had collapsed from the flames and still lay burning on the floor, I ran over the top of them now. I wish I was back outside in the snow and wind.

We managed to get through the house and remarkably we were by the gate, and still alive. Unfortunately, the gate lie closed, and all the guards were distracted by the dragon to open it.

The guard continued to run, however, I sensed he had a plan.

He saw me following and yelled back. 'It's you and me, prisoner, stay close.' Ironic how he was trusting his life to the hands of someone who only a few minutes ago, he was willing to watch die.

The dragon flew past once more, I didn't look up but I saw the great shadow move across the cobblestone. Then the ground shook again, it must have landed.

We made our way in front of a large keep. A few men had appeared through what used to be a fortified wall. One of the men was Ralof.

'We're escaping, Hadvar, you're not stopping us this time.' Ralof cried. He had somehow found an axe and was waving it very threateningly in front of the guard, Hadvar's, face.

'Fine, I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde.' Hadvar said bitterly. It wasn't long ago we were all only moments away from Sovngarde.

The dragon soared down once more and both Hadvar and Ralof split up to go to separate doors in the keep. I thought quickly about how I was about to lose my head to the Imperials and followed Ralof, my first friend in this new life.

I entered the keep.

A great round room was in front of me, with various beasts heads lining the walls. Funny, somehow the thick walls of the keep made me feel safe from the dragon, as if it wasn't about to smash its way in even though I could still hear the cries outside.

Ralof knelt down, it was here I noticed the body of a stormcloak. How long had he been there?

Ralof spoke a soft prayer, then turned.

'Looks like we were the only one's who made it.' he said. I was silent, he sounded panicked now that we seemed safe. His voice was firm outside the keep, but now that we were inside, it sounded shak.

'That thing was a dragon. Like the legends.' he said, not a question, a statement.

It was then I remembered the ropes around my wrists.

'Ralof, think you can cut these bindings?' I asked.

'Of course,' said Ralof, brandishing the dagger. He cut them in a swift movement. 'There you go.' My hands suddenly felt cold as the blood rushed back to the fingertips. I rubbed my wrists where the rope had been, a sense of relief at my freedom.

'You may as well take Gunjar's gear, he won't be needing it any more,' said Ralof motioning to the body.

I'd like to say I had a second thought about taking a dead man's gear. I'd like to say that, but I was practical. I knew we wouldn't get out of here without a fight, and I did want to wear something other than cold rags.

I stripped the man and took off my clothes, placing the armour over my head. It was still warm, the man hadn't been dead for long. I placed my rags on the man in an attempt to keep some of Gunjar's dignity.

I then noticed the axe, Gunjar had been laying on it and I had missed it up until now. A fine axe, I thought, testing the weight of it. I gave it a few swings, it was funny, somehow I felt good holding a weapon, any weapon.

meanwhile , Ralof had moved toward the gate that looked like it led downstairs. He tested it but ultimately came up short.

'This one's locked, try the other.' he commanded. I moved to the other gate opposite and tested it. It wouldn't budge.

'This one's locked too,' I replied.

Ralof cursed then went silent, trying to think of a way out. A voice echoed down the hall.

'Imperials,' Ralof hissed as he darted for cover.

'C'mon, get moving. Get this gate open.' it was the captain, the one that so coldly gave me my death sentence.

She hadn't seen me yet, I gripped the axe in my hand. Somehow, I was excited for the fight. Guess I really was a Nord.

The gate opened and two Imperials stepped through. One was the captain, the other was just another guard. At least I didn't have to kill Hadvar, I thought, at the end of the day, he did help me through the town.

The Captain spotted me first, I bet she wished she hadn't because while she was distracted, Ralof had plunged his axe sharp end first right into her exposed neck. She went don't without realising what had hit her.

Now for the other guard, we had the advantage, sure, two on one, but he had the brains to run back the other way before we managed to kill him too.

'Leave him,' Ralof said, 'we'll lock the gate behind us and he won't be a problem.' In the guards hast to run, he seemed to have dropped the keys for the gates. Ralof picked them up now.

'Let's get that gate open,' he said. I pulled off the captain's helmet, thinking I needed some protection on my head. I left her armour though, I didn't want Ralof mistaking me for an Imperial after what I saw.

Ralof had successfully opened the gate once I shoved on the helmet.

'Good thinking,' said Ralof, 'you never know who or what else might be down here.' I wasn't sure what he meant by that.

We hurried down the stairs. No sooner did we reach the bottom when a low dragon roar sounded again and half the roof collapsed. I stumbled from the shock but all the collapse did was bar our way. I was well back from the sudden cave in.

The helmet was a good fit, not once did it leave my head as I fell. It even stopped me from receiving a concussion as my head bounced on the cobblestone, it did make my ears ring though.

'Damn. That dragon doesn't give up easily.' said Ralof inspecting the cave in. I suddenly noticed a door leading to the left in the wall. That was lucky, I remember thinking.

I opened the door to the keeps kitchens. The only setback was that two Imperials were using it as shelter from the dragon.

They came at us quickly, both with swords, only one armoured. I decided to deal with him first. This was my first true fight that I could remember.

The longsword came down as the armoured Imperial went for an overhead strike, I parried it easily, the weight in my axe overshadowed the weight in his sword. The other Imperial attempted to get me on my side but my reflexes were fast and I managed to knock his axe aside.

Ralof had found a longbow sometime and used this opportunity to fire an arrow right through the imperials neck. Where he got the bow I wouldn't find out. And I wouldn't really care, all that mattered now was that it was two on one, once again.

This Imperial didn't run, however, he was dressed in full steel armour, he didn't need to. Ralof shot two more arrows, both of them deflecting off of his chest plate, but he was no master with his sword. He attempted to swing up and i managed to deflect it again with my axe. He went sideways and I hit it so hard it came away from his grip and skidded across the room.

His eyes went wide as he turned from his sword back to me. I buried my axe through his skull. Maybe he should've been the one with the helmet. That was the first time I remember killing someone, but not the last.

'By Talos' might,' said Ralof, 'where did you learn to fight like that?'

I shrugged, 'I can't remember.'

'I'm glad you're on my side,' said Ralof still amazed. I looked down at the body with the arrow sticking through his neck.

'The feeling's mutual. Where'd you get that bow anyway?'

Ralof shrugged, 'I can't remember.'

I laughed at his answer, then followed as he made his way through the kitchen.

'Look around for any potions, we'll need them.' Ralof commanded.

'Potions?' I asked.

'You know, little magic vials of red liquid that heals your wounds.' I'd never heard of them before, it even sounded like he made them up. But not being one to argue, I looked around the room anyway.

There were three vials in the room, two with the red liquid, and one with blue.

'What do these do?' I asked, holding up the blue vial.

'That's for when you need to cast a powerful spell.' Ralof replied. I guessed magic was nothing out of the ordinary in skyrim then.

Ralof had found three health potions in some nearby barrels and we moved on. Another door lay ahead. On the other side was the other side of the collapsed roof.

Two Imperial legs protruded from the rubble where a guard had been crushed. Very lucky indeed, I thought.

We headed further along the corridor and found another set of stairs. A commotion came from the end.

'Trolls blood,' said Ralof, suddenly shaking with rage. 'Torturers.' Ralof ran down the stairs, and I ran after him. Stormcloaks had managed to escape and were now attacked the guards. The head torturer was a small old man who stared at the stormcloaks with rage. His assistant was a young was who fought with two of the stormcloaks.

Ralof ran toward him, pulling out his axe once more. He brandished it high in the air as he was about to bring it down on the old man. Suddenly, lightning shot out of his fingers and hit Ralof square in the chest, he crumpled shaking on the floor. I ran around a pillar, ignoring the assistant and rushing to help my friend.

I brought the ax down in his back. I felt the spine break. I wasn't a fan of hitting someone in the back, but when the someone is electrocuting people with his fingers, I'm going to say it's okay.

The young torturer had managed to bring down a stormcloak in his rage, but the other, a woman, managed to finished him with a slice through his neck.

I ran to Ralof.

'Are you alright?' I asked. He was still gasping for breath when he managed to sit up.

'I'll be fine, just hand me one of those potions,' without question I handed him the red liquid. Once he drank it his gasping stopped.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked around the room. I was suddenly overcome with rage.

Cages and chains filled the torture chamber. Tools and knives were littered on the floor from the commotion. Blood had stained the floor.

Even worse, the cages were filled with either bodies or skeletons. These men had died a slow death.

I knew the Imperials were bad, but I didn't think they'd actually go through with torture. Made me glad I was heading to the chopping block.

'Best grab what you need.' said Ralof. He didn't seem to care now that the torturer was dead. 'We'll need whatever we can grab.'

The newest stormcloak had gone over to her friend and muttered a silent prayer, I guess there were three of us now.

I walked around the room, looking at what was left. My eyes fell on an iron mace. I lifted it and tested the weight and balance. 'I could use this,' I muttered.

I swapped it for my axe.

'Did you see Ulfric down here?' asked Ralof to the female stormcloak.

'I haven't seem him since the dragon attacked,' she replied.

'Gods be good, I hope he made it,'

We moved further along. The next room contained many more cells, each with a new skeleton inside. My team ignored them, and so did I, now was not the time for grieving.

The torture rooms seemed to go on even further, more small cages were hanging from the roofs, each with a long dead skeleton inside.

The next room had a caved in wall leading to a corridor even further underground. Everyone hesitated, then Ralof was the first to move on. I followed, and then our new friend. I never did ask her name, and she never asked mine, perhaps it was in case one of us died down here, we didn't want to be more wounded than we already were.

The corridor led to a cave, lined with braziers, the only warmth in this dark, cold cave.

The cave turned once again into cobblestone and we heard the unmistakable voices of imperials once more.

'Our orders were to wait for General Tullius,' one said.

Ralof didn't hesitate, he decided a direct, surprise attack was best. He moved into position and fired an arrow. It missed it's mark, alerting the Imperials to our presence, the sound of metal unsheathing rang through the halls as both sides pulled free their weapons.

It was my chance to test my new mace.

There were three in total, a good ol' three on three match up.

I ran at the first man, crossing an old bridge that led over an underground river. My mace struck his once in the chest, winding him then again in the face killing him.

Three on two.

The other two had bows and arrows, incidentally so did the man I just killed. I grabbed his bow, crouched low, nocked an arrow and fired.

Success, the second arrow somehow met its mark, striking the Imperial between his helmet and breastplate, straight through the throat.

Three on one.

I kept low and made my way over to an ancient pillar. I heard the dying breath of the Imperial I just shot as he choked on his blood. The final Imperial was firing at me now after seeing me send two of his companions to Sovngarde.

I grabbed my mace, took in a lungful of air and darted out, running at him. His first arrow almost hit its mark, I guess he was aiming at my heart but he hit me through the shoulder. I didn't feel it yet.

He had to pull out another arrow and nock it before he had another chance, and I was already on him. I swung back and…

Thum.

One of Ralofs arrows came out of nowhere and hit the Imperial under his armpit and through his heart, he died in seconds.

'Couldn't let you get all the glory,' said Ralof proudly.

I fell backwards and led down for a minute. The adrenaline began to wear off and I became increasingly awake that there was an arrow sticking out of my shoulder.

Ralof walked to me with the Stormcloak woman.

'That's in deep,' stated Ralof. I already knew that. 'Let me pull it out.'

'No,' I shouted, already feeling the potential pain. I sat up and moved further from Ralof.

'You can't go around with an arrow sticking out of your chest. Now let me pull it out and then you can drink one of these.' he held a red vial, a potion.

'That won't help,' I said.

'It'll take the pain away almost immediately.' Ralof stated.

I was unaware that the Stormcloak woman had made her way behind me and now she grabbed my arms and pinned them to my sides. She was strong, surprisingly.

But maybe not as surprisingly as Ralof was when he lunged forward and ripped the arrow from my shoulder. I let out a yell of pain which could have almost matched the dragons roars.

Ralof forced the potion into my hand and I quickly pulled off the cork and drank.

It was impulse that made me drink it but I was glad I did. A sudden warmth came over me and I suddenly felt like I had all the energy in the world. I felt a tingling sensation around my arrow wound and remarkable I felt the wound close and the muscles repair.

'Careful,' said Ralof, 'you don't want to get hooked, it's an expensive habit, and it stops you from ducking so much in a fight.

I heeded his warnings. I wasn't going to go out and hurt myself on purpose, no matter the temptation I now felt.

I took a few more moments to lie on the floor, content that no more Imperials would come. Ralof was the first to move to the door.

'We need to move.' he said.

'I'll stay here and wait for Ulfric, said the female stormcloak. I didn't feel like waiting, I wanted to leave this cave and see the sun again as quick as possible. I rolled over onto my feet.

'I'll join you, Ralof.' I said.

'I appreciate that, I can use your protection. Now let's move.' as he said the last words he had already opened the door and began jogging along down the corridor in the cave. I followed.

We can to a dead end. A bridge that hadn't been lowered down. Luckily, we were on the side on the lever.

I yanked it back and the bridge fell, giving us access to continue.

No sooner did we make it over the bridge that the dragon let out a mighty roar once more. Some rocks fell from above our heads and fell directly on the bridge, blocking the path for Ulfric and the stormcloak girl later.

'They'll have to find another route.' said Ralof, uncaring. 'C'mon, let's see what's ahead.'

We continued into another cave, this one had a waterfall making its way through the rocks and formed a river which cut through the rocks and had created a tunnel.

We followed the tunnel quickly. We could already see light coming from ahead. Perhaps the end, perhaps we were almost free.

Quite the opposite happened. We made our way into a new cave, sunlight beamed into the clearing, focusing our attention on three giant spiders.

However gross this enemy was, it was no challenge, we both had longbows so we simply picked off the spiders one by one from the entrance. We moved into the clearing, looking around at the wrapped up bodies that surrounded the cave.

It was then I heard the clicking and looked up. Two Spiders, much bigger than the previous ones, were lowering themselves into the room.

'By Talos,' I shouted, 'they're more.'

Ralof looked up just in time, bringing his axe back out, and I my mace. It was mainly the fear and surprise of the attack that made my heart thump against my ribs. They both went down with one blow each.

One did bite me I'll admit, but I took another potion and was feeling much better very quickly. I hadn't been that scared since I showed the axman my neck. After Ralof composed himself, we were off.

The next room was different. I could actually hear the wind from outside, we were close to the end, plants and bugs were even creeping in, I could smell the fresh air and the freedom.

'Look,' said Ralof, pointing. I followed his hand to a large bear dozing in the sunshine which seeped through a crack in the roof.

'We can sneak around her if you don't want to disturb her,' he said, 'or if you're feel a bit safer going with the other approach.' he gestured toward my bow.

I studied the creature for a moment. After all that had happened, I wondered how it could still be asleep, it seemed peaceful watching the gentle rise and fall of its back.

'We're going to sneak around, enough killing for now.' I said.

'By your command.' he said, obediently. I crouched low and made my way past the bear, but I was no fool, I kept my bow in my hands and an arrow on the string at all times, if it decided it didn't like us, I don't think even the potions would help us.

'Almost there,' whispered Ralof.

'Shh,' I hissed. Although he was right, I could practically smell the grass.

'Made it,' he whispered after we had left the cave. I let go of a breath I was unaware I was holding, stood, and walked calmly to the exit.

My eyes took a moment to adjust, coming from the darkness into the intense sunlight. I shielded my eyes as they focused, Ralof doing the same next to me.

'Get down,' Ralof said suddenly, I obeyed without question.

'There he goes,' Ralof pointed to the sky.

And there, flying only a few hundred metres away, with a final cry of triumph, was the black dragon, flying across the landscape, of the land of Skyrim.


	3. Riverwood

The sight was truly a wonder to behold.

Ralof and I watched as the great terror sank, roaring over the horizon.

It was Ralof that broke the silence.

'We can split up from here,' he said, 'I have a sister, Gurdur, in Riverwood. Not too far down this path.'

I looked down at the dirt trail. It didn't seem very much of a great road, but I had just climbed out of a bear cave, I wasn't one to complain.

'What am I to do there, tell her about the dragons, and that I'm now a wanted criminal? I'm sure she'll welcome me with open arms,' I was a tad stressed. It seemed like now I could relax. Now I could return to general safety and breath normally again. But I shouldn't.

I was shaking too. I didn't realize I had been shaking when I was in the cave fighting just to stay alive. The adrenaline must have stopped me from feeling most things.

'I'll be going with you too,' panted Ralof, he was breathing heavily now. I noticed that he too was shaking. So much for the calm composure he had this whole time. 'I just thought you'd like to head there you're own way. We don't need to stick together anymore.'

I sat down with my back to the cave. Bit stupid I realize now, had the bear decided to take a stroll at that moment, he would have ran straight into two unknown meals catching their breath outside his front door.

Still, I let myself relax. Too much had happened that my mind couldn't get a grasp on what had actually happened. First there was imminent death, then there was more imminent death, then fighting to save ourselves from imminent death. Now there was nothing. It seemed like a hazy blur.

Involuntarily I found myself shaking my head. 'No,' I said, short and sweetly, 'there's safety in numbers, I'd rather us stick together for now, could be more spiders, bears, or imperials lurking about and I'd rather have someone by my side I can trust.'

Ralof breathed, this was the response he was hoping for. He took a seat next to me, his back was also facing the stupid direction. 'That's fine and dandy.' he said, 'but you know, Skyrim must know about Ulfric being captured. Any Imperials you run into out here would be blind drunk from celebrating.'

I managed a laugh. 'Really?'

'Well, he'd have to be some kind of blind. If he saw that dragon and didn't immediately run one hundred miles in the other direction.' Ralof also managed a chuckle.

Something about almost dying with someone and then not dying with that person seemed to strangely bring you closer together. Right now, I felt like Ralof was my best friend since childhood.

We watched the sky a bit longer. The evening sun had moved behind the clouds and gave Skyrim an orange glow. We had been fighting all day.

Now that my shaking stopped I felt hungry. Hungry and cold.

'We should be leaving then,' I said while standing to my feet.

'Right you are,' Ralof replied, 'we've still got to warn people that there's a giant flying, fire breathing lizard that wants to kill them.'

We made our way down the dirt trail till we came to the cobblestone road Ralof was mentioning. I looked up the hill to where Helgen lay.

Smoke was rising in the air and the faint dancing glow came from over the walls. But it was hauntingly quiet.

No townspeople talking. No battle school commands sounding from the courtyards. No clang of armour, laughter of children, or bustling footsteps. And also no screaming. Everyone left in that town was well and truly dead.

'Hey,' called Ralof, a few yards down the hill, 'it's this way.' He nodded his head down the road, I must've been lost in thought for those moments. I'm glad his voice broke the silence.

We continued along in silence. We knew that we weren't in safe territory. A guard could be running round the corner, or a platoon, or really anything. We wanted to be the first to hear anything coming to kill us.

'Y'know,' said Ralof. He either didn't understand that we're supposed to remain inconspicuous, or he wanted to break the tension. 'We could use more soldiers to fight for the stormcloaks. Just head to Windhelm and I'm sure Ulfric would be more than willing to take you on. I've seen you fight, I could vouch for you.'

'I'll definitely consider it,' I said, now I was talking, but somehow I knew that nothing was going to kill us just yet.

'It's better than fighting for the Imperials in any case,' said Ralof. I noted down the town name in my mind. Windhelm. Although I was sure I would make it there sometime if I could stay alive.

We continued to chat for a while. We passed an old Relic. Ralof told me it was called the Guardian Stones and that there are many posted around Skyrim. My eyes became drawn to one of the rocks which had a distinct carving of a thief with a dagger.

'Thief stone, that one,' Ralof explained, 'I'll have to watch my purse around you.' I whipped my head back round and stared at Ralof confused. 'Hey now, I was kidding. Don't get any ideas.'

He seemed to think that I was thinking about robbing him blind right then and there.

I must say there was some appeal to being a thief, however.

Most of the rest of the trip continued in silence. A couple of wolves howled from over the hills, and we passed a mine which I was sure was inhabited, and not by very nice people either. Eventually we saw the rising smoke of Riverwood.

The mill was the first thing I noticed. They used the river to power their saws and chop large logs of wood. A lightbulb went off in my head as to why it was called Riverwood, and now I felt stupid for not putting the pieces together sooner.

The village was pleasant. I guess. It was small and working. It seemed like the kind of place where everyone would know everyone else's names and families.

The people of Riverwood did seem strange. It seemed like a village where everyone believed their village was posh and they had to act posh and shun each other when they can. That was my impression I got off the first three people I saw.

One was a long faced elf who wouldn't look in my direction, he held a bow and arrows on his back.

The others were an elderly mother and her son.

'It was big and black and vanished over the horizon,' the mother said, with a "you've got to believe me" tone. 'It was a dragon I say.'

'Dragons mother, really?' the son was having none of it, 'If you carry on like this, the town will think you're going crazy.' It sounded like this wasn't the first time her son had had to convince his mother that she was seeing things.

Ralof and I knew better of course, we were perhaps the only people in this village that wouldn't think she was crazy. I caught her eye. I managed a smile. She gave me a piercing, hateful look.

The town had a general goods store. That was good, i thought. I haven't got money to buy, but perhaps I can sell a few things I had on me.

The Blacksmith was across the road from the store. He seemed nice enough, having a laugh with a local as he got on with his job. I couldn't hear what they were saying though.

'I'm glad you decided to come here with me,' said Ralof, 'having another witness helps when you're explaining you're outlandish tales.'

Ralot turned left once we were past the blacksmith's house and walked directly toward the mill.

'Gurder!' called Ralof. A tall blonde nordic woman appeared in our path.

'Ralof? Is that you?' she called back.

'It is sister.'

'Are you well? We heard Ulfric had been captured. Are you safe from the Imperials? Who's this?' she nodded towards me although she never took her eyes off Ralof.

'This is a friend, without her, I never would have made it out of Helgen.'

'Helgen?'

'Relax, Gurder. Call your husband and I'll tell you the whole story.'

'Of course.' She turned toward the mill. 'Hod, come down here a moment,' she yelled.

'I can't. I'm busy.' a voice called back.

'Just come down here.'

The man walked to the end of his mill and looked down at the scene. 'Dammit, Gurder, didn't I say I was- Oh hello Ralof. I'll be down soon.'

'Make sure no one hears us,' said Ralof to his sister, 'if they do it could mean trouble.'

'Of course,' she whipped her head around to a small child who had been observing the scene from a distance. 'Frodnar!'

Frodnar saw Ralof first. Completely ignoring Gurder, he sprinted toward the stormcloak.

'Uncle Ralof, you're back. Where have you been? How many Imperials did you kill? Is it true you know Ulfric Stormcloak?'

'I'll answer all your questions later, nephew. For now I must speak to your mother.'

'Frodnar,' snapped Gunder. 'I need you to keep an eye on the south road for Imperials. If you see any come and tell me immediately.'

'But mum, I want to talk to Uncle Rolaf.'

'Run along child, we can talk later. But first you must do your duty as a stormcloak,' said Ralof.

'Oh, duty. Of course.' Frodnar ran away as quickly as he could towards the south road.

'Hello Ralof. Are you well?' it was the man that was on the mill, Hod. He appeared almost out of nowhere.

'I'm fine, Hod. Thanks. But I need to tell you both something of the utmost importance.'

Both Hod and Gurder gathered closer.

'Gods, where do I begin,' said Ralof. 'It feels like I haven't slept in an eternity.' he took a breath and recounted the story. 'We were ambushed, it's true. Someone tipped off the Imperials. That was two days ago. They took Ulfric. We were going to Helgen, carted off there this morning.

'We were on the chopping block and it felt like we were goners. No fair trial for the true high king of Skyrim just a quick death sentence.' Ralof, Hod, and Gurder all seemed to spit. 'We were as good as dead, when believe it or not, a dragon appeared and saved our hides. We've spent the remainder of the day fighting our way out of Helgen.'

'Gods be good,' said Gurder, taking it all in, 'did Ulfric get out?'

'I'm sure it would take a lot more than a dragon to kill Ulfric Stormcloak.' said Ralof, 'but if it hadn't been for this one here,' Ralof gestured to me, 'I wouldn't have made it.'

'That reminds me, if there's a dragon on the loose, then the Jarl of Whiterun must know as soon as we can.' Gurder looked at me, 'Can you take a message up to the Jarl and let him know what has happened. Riverwood is defenceless against dragons.' I understood the message, it was just crazy to me how quickly she believed it.

'We'll give you food and shelter for the night,' said Hod, 'But you'll be doing all of us a favour if you head up to Whiterun first thing in the morning.'

'Yes,' said Gurder, 'Please, take what you need. We already have some meals prepared.'

'I'll take them up to the house and let them settle in,' said Hod.

'You'll go up and drink with them all night, you mean?' said Gurder, Hod laughed and led the way for Ralof and I.

The walk up to the house was quick even though they lived on the other side of the village, it was a small village after all, just thank Talos they had fortified walls.

The house was rather large, Hod and Gurder had two cows and a dog that patted along happily. Some nests could be seen with eggs, so there were chickens loose around the garden somewhere.

Hod unlocked the door. The smell of fresh food hit my nose.

Hod led me to a bed.

'You can sleep here. Sounds like you'll sleep soundly with the day you've had.' I ate a hot meal and led down in bed, it was getting late.

Does it make me a psychopath to watch everything that I had today, the dragon destroying homes, the heads being lopped off, the murdering of guards so that we may have some freedom and still sleep soundly? Either way, I fell into a deep sleep that night, and I was warm.


End file.
